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Out of more than 50,000 pubs in Britain, only 4,500 of the finest outlets for real ale are chosen for inclusion in the Good Beer Guide. Pubs in the Guide are chosen by local CAMRA members who go through a rigorous process to ensure only the best pubs are selected.

The CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2020 is published today and we are thrilled to announce that, yet again, The Retreat is included. CAMRA said to us, “To be included speaks volumes for the high standards of your pub and for the consistent quality of your real ale offering.”

We hope our many loyal customers are as happy as we are with this recognition from CAMRA. We will continue to work hard delivering an excellent choice of well kept and presented real ales.

The Retreat was included in the first-ever CAMRA Good Pub Guide in 1974.

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Great news, The Eldon Arms will be reopening this month (September 2019) under the name Weather Station. We saw signs being put up this afternoon.

Of course, it was sad when The Eldon Arms closed its doors. The Eldon Arms was described as a pub that was traditional, unpretentious, real ales, pub grub, darts and pool, occasional live music plus a small garden. Many good evenings were had there.

Now the property at 19 Eldon Terrace, Reading, RG1 4DX, is being spruced up ready to serve craft ales and other good things.

We are pleased that Weather Station, The Lyndhurst and The Retreat will all be open and trading this autumn. The Village (the Eldon Square Conservation Area) thrives with all three pubs delivering their uniquely different offerings.

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Reading most famous ‘back street
boozer’ has been saved from an uncertain future by three local residents.

Dave Gray, Di Whitaker and Mark Birmingham, all long-term
residents of ‘The Village’ Eldon Street Conservation Area, moved quickly last
week to secure the suddenly available lease from Admiral Taverns and make safe
their Landlord Brian Moignard.

Mark said, “Brian Moignard has been instrumental to the
continued success of The Retreat. Both
Brian and The Retreat are dear to us all; to lose both was untenable. Dave
suggested we secure the tenancy for the pub and we immediately agreed. None of
us has substantial experience of the on-trade, so we’ll be relying on Brian’s
extensive experience to guide us.”

The trio aims to make some subtle changes to the pub but vow not to lose the character of The Retreat which has become a Reading institution. They urge the local community to visit soon. The legendary Pickled Onion Contest, the popular Village Easter Festival and live music are all events that are guaranteed to continue.

The Village has three pubs: The Retreat, whose future has
been secured by Dave, Di and Mark; The Lyndhurst which has just reopened with a
good new team and The Eldon Arms which is scheduled to open this autumn under
new ownership.

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We’ve added some of the history of the now legendary Pickled Onion Competition to the website. If you can add any details about winners and judges, please let us know. We are also keen to add some photos if you have any.

Contributions

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The No17 bus crosses Reading, its route runs from Tilehurst to The Three Tuns. Bill Buckley from BBC Radio Berkshire travelled the route on Wednesday 10 July 2019 and visited places of interest on the way. One of his stops was at The Retreat.